The 56th edition of Vinitaly brings excellent results for Abruzzo wines. International interest in the latest generation wines such as Cerasuolo and Pecorino is increasing, while there is a slight decline in the prince of Abruzzo wines, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The preview of the “Circana per Vinitaly” study, relating to the best-selling wines in Italy in supermarket chains, speaks of a +19% for Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, +12% for Pecorino d’Abruzzo and a +4% for Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Despite appearances, for industry experts it would still be a positive year considering the negative data for 2023.
“They have been four days full of enthusiasm. Our wineries are growing, innovating, and then there are the young experiences, which feed and strengthen the sector”, says the vice president of the Abruzzo regional council, with responsibility for Agriculture, Emanuele Imprudente, sums up Abruzzo’s participation in the international wine and spirits exhibition in Verona, which began on 14 April and ended today and where the region was present with a large consortium stand of 1,500 square metres. Organized space by the Consorzio Tutela Vini d’Abruzzo, which hosted 50 wineries.
“We had important presences, with the visit of Prime Minister Meloni and Minister Lollobrigida, demonstrating the value of Abruzzo – continues Imprudente -, a region that is growing, in the national and international sector, and we are in fact among the most attractive pavilions of the entire fair, a sign that the work undertaken and outlined in recent years is starting to bear fruit. Among great classics and renewed choices, we have our Cerasuolo, the “true” rosé wine that characterizes us and is growing in the sales rankings. Then there is Montepulciano d’Abruzzo which represents our history and culture, but for which we are trying to innovate. For the first time we are at Vinitaly also with “Trabocco”, a DOC sparkling wine which entered the markets to characterize the bubbles of Abruzzo”.
“We are living – he adds – in a moment characterized by a very delicate international crisis, and for those like us who are opening up in an important way on international markets, this represents a problem. However, we are able to affirm the quality of our companies, the ability to stay on the markets with excellences which are a unique value, we are imposing and characterizing a brand, giving the right answers to the needs of the consumer, and I dare say, of tourism, because obviously wine, tourism, food and wine and history and culture represent – concludes Imprudente – an extraordinary unicum”.
“The Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Doc and the Pecorino d’Abruzzo Doc are two wines that now represent a certainty for the numerous Abruzzo winemakers and winemakers – confirms Giuseppe Cavaliere, agronomist and official of the Agriculture Department of the Abruzzo Region -. We are witnessing a decline in the consumption of red wines to the benefit of rosés and whites – he observes -: the latter two wines are in fact meeting with more and more interest from consumers, in particular those of the younger age groups”. Confirming Cavaliere’s words we find the processing of data from Istat and the Chieti-Pescara Chamber of Commerce, carried out by the Consorzio Tutela Vini d’Abruzzo on behalf of the Abruzzo Region, which speaks of a growing turnover on the export of Abruzzo wines with +11% compared to to 2022. The foreign market for Abruzzo wines recorded a gain of approximately 255 million euros. Among the main markets we have Germany (19.6%), United States (13%), United Kingdom (10.4%), Switzerland (8.5%) and the Netherlands (8.2%).
Wines, gastronomy, hospitality, trekking, postcard landscapes: this is how Abruzzo is redefining its image and its attractiveness. And he focused with determination on the ‘Trabocco Spumante d’Abruzzo Doc’, the bubbles with the ‘sea inside’. The project was born in 2018: the collective brand Trabocco (registered in 2020) aims to enhance the sparkling wines produced with the Italian method from native grapes such as Passerina, Pecorino, Trebbiano, Montonico, Cococciola and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, characterized by high acidity and low alcohol content, two qualities that give excellent sparkling bases. “Our grapes are naturally predisposed to making sparkling wine – observes Alessandro Nicodemi, president of the Consorzio Vini d’Abruzzo – and there is now a need to bring to the markets a totally Abruzzo product, made with our vines, vinified and bottled in the region” .
Wine tourism is also growing in Abruzzo: there are 70 operational wineries compared to 59 in 2023, the majority present in the Teramo Hills (20) and the Theatine Hills (19), 44 thousand presences in 2023 (over 80% for Open Cellars , the event that took place in May).
But there is the sore point… Unfortunately for Abruzzo winemakers, the funds made available by the Government to try to repair the damage caused by downy mildew in 2023 would amount to around 7 million euros to be divided between the regions of Abruzzo, Basilicata , Calabria, Lazio, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Tuscany, Sicily, Umbria and Marche. In “frank” words, by dividing the funds made available among all those entitled to compensation, we could perhaps offer each of them a nice dinner of Made in Italy pizza. The instructions for applying for compensation, which went unnoticed and were published last 28 March through Agea (Agency for agricultural payments), speak of a deadline for requests by 12 May 2024.
Vinitaly archives its 56th edition today with 97 thousand attendees. Foreign operators from 140 countries increased slightly to 30,070 (31% of the total). In terms of foreign attendance, the United States confirms itself in pole position with a contingent of 3,700 operators present at the fair (+8% compared to 2023). Followed by Germany, Great Britain, China and Canada (+6%). Japanese buyers also increased (+15%). 17 Apr. 2024
MARIANO PELLICCIARO
@REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED
Tags: Vinitaly #56th edition closed Success wines Abruzzo Trabocco sparkling wine
